Obesity problems are no longer limited to the USA as, in recent years, obesity rates in the EU countrieshave increased dramatically, leading to serious consequences in terms of direct health care costs and productivitylosses, and indicating the existence of a negative externality connected with...

The World Health Organization has stated that obesity is spreading around the world like a “global epidemic”. In 2004 the percentage of obese people in the Italian population was 9%, but the trend s increasing in recent years. Focusing on this country, the purpose of the paper is to analyze...

In the EU, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute the majority of firms in the foodindustry, are fighting for survival as they face growing market competition from large firms (Knight, 2000). On theother hand, market opportunities for SMEs are connected to the evolution of...

In the context of progressive rise of the competition among firms, due to the increasingglobalisation, it is interesting to understand the potential sources of competitive advantage in order to set upa successful strategy. The theory of Resource-based View used in this framework examines the...

The paper analyses the characteristics of the processing sector of organic products andthe relationships with agriculture and retailing sector in six EU Nuts II regions:Lombardy and Tuscany for Italy, Rhone-Alpes and Paca for France, Catalunya andMurcia for Spain. The choice of these regions is...

In international food markets, voluntary traceability systems have increasedtheir role in guaranteeing high safety and quality standards for the consumer. Suchsystems are also among the strategies firms employ to differentiate products andstrengthen competitive advantage in both the national and...